Coronavirus: Koreans queue in cold for masks as PM bans their export

Hong Kong authorities have warned pet owners to avoid kissing their pets, after a dog belonging to a Covid-19 patient was confirmed to have the virus.

The Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said the pet dog had “a low level of infection with the virus”, adding that it was likely a case of human-to-animal transmission.

The dog – said to be a pomeranian – has not shown any signs of disease and is currently under quarantine.

Japan does not expect to receive a cancellation notice from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto on Thursday according to a Reuters report.

The Olympics minister said a “cancellation or delay of the Games would be unacceptable for the athletes”.

Earlier this week, she had said that Tokyo’s contract with the IOC called for the Games to be held within 2020. She said this “could be interpreted as allowing a postponement”.

Nearly 20% of nursing care service providers in Japan have run out of face masks, said the Japan Times quoting a recent survey by a labour union.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had earlier said the government is considering supplying its stockpiled face masks to medical institutions that are facing shortages.

An atmosphere of panic has led to bulk-buying of masks, hand sanitisers and even toilet paper across different parts of the world.

Here are some of the cruise ships that have been affected by the global outbreak:

• The Grand Princess is being held off the coast of California after a former passenger died of the virus. Around 3,500 people are on board
• Last month, thousands of people on board the Diamond Princess were quarantined in the Japanese port of Yokohama after a previous passenger tested positive. Six passengers later died, and at least 621 people tested positive
• Thousands on board the World Dream in Hong Kong were put in quarantine in February after it emerged that passengers who sailed on a previous voyage tested positive. They were later allowed to disembark after tests came back negative
• Passengers on board the MS Westerdam found themselves stranded after five countries denied them entry, fearing that someone on board may have been infected. The ship departed Hong Kong on 1 February with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew on board.
  It was finally allowed to dock in Cambodia

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, although the new coronavirus was discovered in China, it didn’t necessarily originate there.

A cruise ship is being held off the coast of California, after a former passenger died from Covid-19.

The Grand Princess went on a round trip from San Francisco to Mexico last month.

After the ship docked in San Francisco on 21 February, thousands more passengers boarded and thousands disembarked. The vessel then began a round-trip to Hawaii.

It was a 71-year-old passenger from the Mexico trip who later died in California.

Some 62 passengers were on the Mexico trip and the Hawaii trip. They have been restricted to their rooms for testing.

The ship has 2,500 passengers and around 1,000 crew.

California governor Gavin Newsom said 11 passengers and 10 crew members were potentially infected.

“So we’re holding that ship, which (has) thousands of passengers as well, off the coast, and we’ll be conducting those tests,” he said.

A Sydney childcare centre has also been temporarily closed after children and staff visited an aged-care home where an elderly resident later died from the virus.

One of the staff reported feeling ill afterwards. Their test came back negative but authorities said they would carry out screenings of children and their families “out of an abundance of caution”.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy said: “Clearly the community has had some concerns about the
outbreak in Sydney, the small community outbreak, but this
is a very small cluster of cases, it is being very actively managed.”

Australia reported its first cases of locally-transmitted infections this week. There are now 54 cases nationally, the majority of which were from people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Two people have died while at least 21 people have recovered.

Working from home but too lazy to put makeup on? No fear.

Three years ago, Shiseido, in
partnership with Microsoft, introduced an app that put “make up” on your face while
you attend a teleconference call from home.

Back then, there wasn’t much
demand – but as more companies ask employees to work from home, there’s been greater
demand. Even US companies like Zoom have began to roll out features like the “Touch Up my Appearance” option.

And don’t feel too left out if you’re a guy – this Japanese man has invented an app that dresses you in a suit.

Thailand has announced four new cases, bringing the total to 47. They are:

• A 29-year-old Italian man
• A 42-year-old Thai man who had been to Italy
• A 22-year-old Chinese student who arrived from Iran
• A 20-year-old Thai student returning from Iran

This Australian paper has printed eight pages of “toilet paper” – with handy cut lines to boot:

A group of Italian tourists who tried to escape coronavirus confinement in the West African country of Mauritania have been sent back home, said news wire AFP.

Mauritania has imposed a confinement period on travellers from countries considered high-risk.

The 15 tourists tried to evade this confinement but were caught 90km (56 miles) from the capital of Nouakchott, where they had first arrived.

A health ministry spokesman said they were brought to the airport and sent back to Italy.

Simon Atkinson

BBC News, Sydney

Australia has slammed the door on more travellers as it
tries to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

Non-Australians visiting from
South Korea have been added to the travel ban list which already featured
China.

And Australians have been told to think carefully about whether they
really need to visit South Korea themselves.

People arriving from Italy will
also be subject to high levels of screening, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Australia has recorded 53 cases of the virus.

Good intentions, not so great execution:

A man in South Korea’s virus epicentre of Daegu has died from the coronavirus, reports news outlet Yonhap. This brings the country’s death toll to 39.

There are currently 5,766 coronavirus cases in the country.

Crew members who worked onboard a Milan-Singapore flight have been instructed to take a leave of absence after a passenger tested positive for the virus.

The passenger had been on flight SQ355 on Feb 24, reported media outlet Channel NewsAsia. They had subsequently flown to New Zealand.

• The Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece will see smaller crowds and receptions scrapped

• Italy has ordered all major sporting events, including Serie A soccer games, to be played without fans for one month
• The Irish Rugby Football Union has postponed its Six Nations fixture against Italy
• England’s game against Italy will also be postponed, according to reports
• The F1 Grand Prix, due to be held in Shanghai in April, has been postponed
• The final two stages of the UAE Tour – a road cycling race – was cancelled after two Italian participants tested positive for the virus

UK regional airline Flybe has gone into administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk after a bid for fresh financial support failed.

The carrier said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on demand for air travel was partly to blame for its collapse.

The airline narrowly avoided going bust in January. Read more here.